The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-03-25
THE WEST TENNESSEE ASYlUM.

The Legislature. last week, ap-
prOpriated the amount necessary to
complete the West Tenn essee Hes-
pltal for Insane as asked for by the
; Building Commissioners In their
annual report. and recommended
by the Governor. The House pass
ell the appropriation by the decided
vote Of SO ayes to % nays, and the
Senate by "a ayes to 6 nays. Only
Two members from West Tennessee
voted against this much nee ded
charity, both being mem bers OF the
Senate, and while the Commission
ers should have had the united
strength of West Tennessee in aid
ing the erection and speedy compile
tiOn of All institution so badly needed
in tins portion of the state, and one
that will at least alleviate the suf>
ferings and make as pleasant as
possible the lot of so many unfOrtu-
nate human beings, an hundred and
eighty-tWO of whom are now in the
poor houses and jails of " est Ten
nessee without proper care and
treatment, left to exc out a miser,, =
bic existence with no hope of re-
cOvery, and no kind hand to smooth
and beautify the paths which pro-
whence has made hard for them; yet,
while it would have Deen gratifying
to have heard no nay from West
Tennessee, the vote shows that the
Legislature app eciated sSthe efforts
the efforts of the Com missioners,
and recognized the necessities Of the
Insane. This institution when com
pleted will be one of the st and
cheapest buildings of the kind ever
erected in the United States, the bes
material and workmanship Will be
used in It's construction, - archi-
tectural beauty will be as great as
can be obtained without excessive
eXLravagant Ornamentation. while
its heating, ventilating and sanitary
arrangements aud appliances will
be all that modern science end ex-
perience can suggest. 1t wall be a
large, plain, substantial modern
Hospital for the Insane noble
charity that Will reflect honor on a
great people, and make us all feel
grander aud better III that We nave
been instrumental in placing our
state upon a higher plane of cIvila-
cation, aud contributed 10 the cree
ton of a building that il to care for
the most heiPie-s Of Ouf citizens, no
and restore darkeHed souls the light
of reason. As one of our grea.eat
authorities in tue care and treat
ment o. the insane saya: "To have
these respective and collective clas-
ses of insane persons not only re-
moved from dagger to Che life and
property OF individuals, but from
danger to society at large-to bave
these dangerously deraneed persons
themselves attended protected, de-
Tended and kindly watched over by
those who esteem them rotwith.tand-
ing their inhrmlty-is something
better than the love ofmoney. But,
in addition to this, 10 have the great
portion of these unfortunate children
Of the commonwealth provided With
convenient and adequate hospital
accommodation. whe,e thew may be
the just and welcome REGIMENTS Of
such prompt and skilIful medical
attention, that One-half or two-thilds
of them may be soon returned, in
health of IN nd and body, to friends
family and society, is something
worth living for. To aid in such
honorable and lasting achievement is
the highest. nOblest and hottest use
to be made of brief legislative au-
thoritY; and those members of the
Legislature who have used it thus
and done nothing worse, may well
rejoice now and heEceforth that
they were members of the Forty
fifth General Assembly.